TVN complains to EU over Polish public TV financing

WARSAW, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Poland's largest listed media group TVN TVNN.WA asked the European Commission on Tuesday to look into whether the state broadcaster is enjoying illegal public assistance and advantages that stifle competition.

TVN said in a statement that Poland's legal and regulatory framework on the financing of public television through public aid violated EU law.

Poland's state television, whose main competitors are privately owned TVN and Polsat, receives some 500 million zlotys ($210 million) annually from mandatory licence fees.

Its private competitors criticise the state television channels for running adverts and competing with them for expensive programming and movie rights instead of concentrating on its mission as a public broadcaster.

"Competition on the television market has seriously been distorted, thereby resulting in an unjustified weakening of the private broadcasters' market position," TVN said.

A public television spokeswoman was not available for comment.

Poland's new centre-right government has said it was considering scrapping the licence fee in favour of direct donations from the state budget.

In 2004 the European Commission ruled that a Danish public television channel had to reimburse 84 million euros ($124.5 million) because part of its public financing was not necessary to meet its public service goals. (Reporting by Chris Borowski; Editing by David Cowell)